


Hypervigilance

by OGSpaceDad



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: #murder #Alternate #Universe #Criminal #Minds #SpencerTriesHisBest #BAU #OriginalWorkiThink, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 09:57:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19850770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OGSpaceDad/pseuds/OGSpaceDad
Summary: It's been 3 years since Elle left the BAU, and Spencer still blames himself for not helping her more. A new serial killer has come onto the scene and something about the murders seems very familiar.





	1. Background

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElizaTheRipper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaTheRipper/gifts), [tusslee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusslee/gifts).



> Find me on Tumblr!  
> Space-dads-blog

**October 29th, 2006**

"What do you mean Elle is gone..." Reid asks, looking at Hotch who just dropped a bomb on their team in the conference room. "Effective as of two days ago, Agent Greenaway has left the BAU." Hotch says, assessing the shocked faces of his team carefully.

"I know this isn't normal. But it's a choice she needed to make." He says, "I understand if this news is difficult, but we still have a job to do." He looks over at JJ who looks like she wants to say more but is also understands that they need to move on from the topic. 

"Three days ago a woman was found..." She begins, but her words seem to fade out as Reid stares at the file laid ahead of him. She's gone? She cant be gone... he had just spoken to her in the hotel room. He knew there was more she wanted to talk about, he could feel it. He should have tried to talk to her more after the Fisher King case when she first came back from her leave. It was too soon to put herself back into the field. 

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to the room. "Hey kid, you still with us?" Morgan asked, his expression teasing but Reid could see the underlying concern. 

"Yeah, uh sorry, I guess my head wandered off." He said, brushing off the question. They went over the rest of the case and boarded the plane, his thoughts never too far from Elle.

The case was easier then most, another unsub who used murder to become somebody. It wasnt hard to play to their anger, their desire to be seen. Figures Gideon had him pegged easy enough and found the easiest way to draw them out. But after all of that they ended up staying in the hotel for the remainder of the night, which left Reid alone in his thoughts. 

_Knock_  
_Knock_  
_Knock_

Or so he thought. He stood up from the table and walked to the door, he peaked in the peephole and opened the door for Jason Gideon on the other side. "Care for a quick game of chess?" He asked, his facial expression leaving Reid with nothing to say why he was here at this time of night.

"Sure. Come in." Reid says, moving out of the way to allow him to walk in. He made his way over to the table Reid was just sitting at. Reid didnt like the tension in the air, "Cant sleep?" Reid asked him, moving a bit closer to him. He was surprised in that Gideon usually stayed in his own room, electing to review the finalities of the cases on his own.

"Me? A little bit." Gideon says, hands in his pockets but one swings out to motion to the board. "A game always helps to ease my mind after a stressful day." He says. Reid knows what this is, he sat down with Gideon and began to assemble the pieces. 

For a while they play, neither saying anything while the game picks up momentum. Reid was in the middle of figuring out checkmate in the next 6 moves when Gideon finally speaks up. 

"You couldn't have stopped her you know." He says, his eyes never leaving the board.

Reid can feel the drop in his stomach, "What do you mean..." he says, even though he knows exactly what he meant. What he wouldnt allow himself to accept. He felt his heart rate pick up, he should have known Gideon would pick up on his emotional state. 

"With Elle. You couldn't have stopped her. None of us could." He says, finally looking up at Reid. His expression still flat, but Reid knew he wouldnt talk about this unless he was genuinely concerned. Reid moved his pawn and took one of Gideons pawns.

He knows that he couldn't have stopped her. Deep down, somewhere. He knows. He always did, but it didn't make it any easier. Especially now that they have no idea where she went, he had tried to call her and left messages but he got nothing back.

"I could have tried more though..." He says finally, "I-I could have talked to her more... tried to help after..." he cuts himself off, his hands gripping his pants as he stared down at the chessboard.

"I feel like I failed her." He says quietly, he felt like if he said it any louder though the floodgates would open and he really didnt want to cry in front of Gideon.

"We can't control people. Just like with any of these Unsub we face. We can try to figure out what went wrong to learn how to catch it next time, but we can't go back. And we can't sit and think about what ifs." He says calmly, like he was talking about the weather. "Because it's when you get stuck in the what if's that you end up losing yourself as well." He said as he moved his knight claiming Reid's bishop.

"But... she was my friend." Reid says softly, looking at him finally.

"Reid, some people can't be saved. Some people don't WANT to be saved. And that's just a part of life." He says, "It's hard, but there comes a point where someone makes a choice, and they have to live with that." He moved his rook and sits back, "Checkmate in two." He gives him a small smile as he watched the wheels turn in Reids head. 

That night sticks with Reid, even when he leaves and retires for the night and is finally left alone with what Gideon said. He remembers every conversation they have, and they never leave. Even when he eventually does. 

**October 12th, 2008**

The Angel Maker was an interesting case, it felt like a real life horror movie for a while there. "You know, the amount of dedication Chloe had to have in order to go and dig up the Angel Maker's grave is astonishing. Really makes you think about how obsession can completely change you as a person." He said, Prentiss and Morgan looking at him.

"Obsession aside, that woman was just down right crazy." Morgan said, finishing up his own report on his computer. 

"The last thing I wanna think about is grave robbing right before my date." Prentiss chipped in, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "You guys heading out?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

Morgan stood up, "Oh you best believe I'm not staying here a minute longer then I need too." He chuckled, gathering up his own belongings and turning to Reid, "You coming?"

"I'm gunna be a minute. I want to finish up a few things in my report." He said, squeezing a stress ball as he eyes the paper ahead of him. 

"Alright, well, we'll see you in a few days." Prentiss smiled and waved as her and Morgan left. Reid sat back in his chair, looking at the file in front of him. 

_Obsession._

That word seemed to bounce around in his head. Almost like a mantra. Why this word? Out of anything else. The thought making his head hurt, luckily he knew the one thing that would help get his brain going. He stood up and made himself a cup of coffee, enjoying the smell of the fresh liquid that filled his mug.

"Oh! I'm so happy to see your still here!" The ever bubbly Penelope Garcia shimmied over to him, her tight skirt and large heels not giving her much room to run. Her brightly decorated nails clutching a small but long box in her hands, "I know, I know, but you KNOW I cannot have you guys skipping birthdays and even though YOU aren't celebrating doesn't mean I can't, SO!" She said and stuck the box out to him, smiling brightly, "Happy Birthday Spencer." She said, nudging the box twords him to take. 

He sighed but smiled, "I always tell you to not worry, I don't need anything..." he slowly unwrapped the carefully wrapped with cat themed paper wrapping and opened the cardboard box. He was confused until he pulled out the certificates, "Two gift certificates to the cheesecake factory?" He asked amused, looking over at her. 

"Wait, did I buy two? Oh shoot, I meant to get just one." She said, snagging one and smiling, "Looks like we gotta go together then." She said matter of factly. Reid chuckled softly as she looped their arms together and walked to the elevator, "You have GOT to try this garlic bread they have! It comes with this ricotta cheese stuff that you dip it into and..." her voice droned out as he walked with her, just enjoying that he had a friend like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my first published work on Ao3, and I'm kinda nervous and excited. The first chapter is a bit short but it's just to introduce everything. This is something I've been thinking about and I hope you guys enjoy. ^-^


	2. The Beginning

**November 9th, 2009**

Reid yawned as he sat down in the conference room, he swore he spent more time here at this table then at his own apartment. JJ passed out the files and Reid smiled at her as she gave him his, but it left quickly as she made her way to the screen ahead of them. "This is a rough one guys..." JJ begins. 

She points her remote at the TV and two men's faces pop up, "Earlier this year in Salem Oregon, these two men vanished seemingly out of nowhere. They were both on parole around the same time for separate crimes. They missed their check in with their parole officer, so warrants were issues for their arrest." She clicked the remote.

"John Andrew is our first victim. His body was found two days ago with a single gun shot wound to the head. They were able to identify him by his dental records since animals seem to have gotten to him while he was out in the elements." 

"But they still haven't found the other guy, yeah? A Mr.. David Harris?" Rossi asked, looking over the case file on his iPad, "He misses his parole check in and hasn't contacted anyone since... So he's either a victim as well or he is avoiding arrest..." He says, his hand coming up and scratching his chin.

"Right. Well, since they opened up their communications I was able to find 4 more precincts with the same MO, bringing this to a total of 10 possible victims." She said, bringing up all their pictures. The team stared at the screen, surprised at the number of possible victims.

"Ten victims?" Prentiss asked, she couldn't believe it was that high. 

"The unsub stretched across 5 state lines, meaning their smart enough to work the system." Reid remarked, "How was it you were able to help them connect all of the cases?"

"They were all suspects in different but similar cases, some for rape, abuse and so on. But all of them were released or charged dropped due to minimal evidence." JJ said, pulling up more slides of the crime scenes. There were many pictures of them being found in their homes or cars, only a couple victims were taken elsewhere like the woods and one guy was shoot on the sidewalk in the middle of the night. 

"Looks like the victims that were found were all shot point blank." Rossi muttered more to himself. 

"Which means we're looking at a vigilante. Taking justice they feel was lost in the system into their own hands. We gotta work fast to catch this one before more bodies pile up. The Salem police department has requested our help on this, so that's where we will head too first. Wheels up in 30." Hotch said, standing up. 

After some time spent making their way in collecting everything they needed for the trip they continued on and boarded the plane. Reid couldn't help the itching feeling he had, "It looks like the first killings were in Columbus, Ohio." He said, looking over the file. He was sitting next to Hotch, he found that lately when they board the plane they both choose the two seats by the table. Morgan and Prentiss sat in front of them and Rossi chilled on the side couch with JJ standing in the middle of the row as they talked. 

"It's crazy that they have traveled through almost 5 states, how do they afford to do this?" Prentiss said looking up from where she was examining the case file.

"They could be transient, train hopping, hitchhiking. There's a number of ways to travel the states without arising detection." Rossi said, "But we gotta get an idea on who this guy is before we get there." He added as he checked his phone for a second. 

**November 10th, 2009**

After some slight turbulence and much needed sleep they arrived in Salem. The team walked into the station, officers eyeing them as they walked in. Not that it wasn't normal, especially when Rossi accompanied them. But anytime their team had to show up meant something bad was going down in their town. Which meant staring and judgments.

Hotch walked up to the woman approaching them, "My name is Agent Hotchner, this is my team Agents Prentiss, Rossi, Morgan, Dr. Reid, and our communications liaison Agent Jennifer Jareau." He said as they all shook her hand. 

"I'm Officer Townsend. But you can call me Diana." She said, she was a tall but thin woman, but she carried herself as someone who worked hard to get where she is at and is proud of the work she has done. From where the team stood many awards and pictures of their officers hung along the walls. They were clearly proud of their team and proud of their city.

After some basic settling down and getting some coffee Officer Townsend brought in a box, "We don't have much on their disappearance because both of these men were just assumed to be on the run... Salem is a decently peaceful town minus the couple home robberies we deal with. The entire State of Oregon is relatively peaceful so you can imagine our surprise to find two men murdered like this." She said. 

Hotch looked at the map of the two murders, "Both murders were in the same town but only one body was found. How much of the woods there have you looked through?" He asks her. 

She sighed, "Not as much as I'd like too." She said honestly. 

"Looks like we should start there. If the killer dumped the body there then likely chances are that they are comfortable there and might have taken the other man there too." Rossi stands up, "Prentiss and I can assist Officer Townsend while you guys work off the location and clues." He says as he grabs his jacket, everyone nods and they head on their way. 

Reid keeps staring at all the different maps showing where all the victims were left, he was so focused he barely registered Hotch sitting besides him, "Find anything Reid?" He asked, causing him to jump, "Ah, no not yet..." Reid finally got out. 

"You've been zoning out again... is everything alright?" Now normally if Hotch asked that question it was because he already suspected something. But with Reid givin the prior history of his issues Hotch only had concern when asking. 

Reid figured Hotch, if anybody, would understand his feelings. "I just... something about this case feels... familiar. I guess I'm zoning out trying to figure out why." Reid said, scratching his head as his brow furrowed in thought. 

Hotch nodded and gently touched his arm, "I understand what you mean." He sat back, crossing his arms, "Like there is something that if we just see it, it will all make sense." He said. "I know you, and I know if anyone can figure it out it's you. But don't stress yourself out. I'm always here to talk." He said, squeezing his shoulder gently before standing up. 

Reid couldn't help but smile that time, "I understand." He said, with a refreshed motivation he began to look over the files. Out of all the victims only one was shot in public, that one was the outlier, and bugged him the most. What if someone was walking, or a child was walking a dog? 

JJ worked on putting all the pictures up, they needed 3 boards for everything. "It's just crazy to me that so many of these have gone unnoticed." She crossed her arm, "Bad or not, if my brother or child went missing, I'd be doing all I could to find them. But none of these families even commented on the fact that they were missing." She said, running her hands through her hair. 

Suddenly an officer came running into the room, he took a breath before he spoke. "They found more bodies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two finally! Been excited to put this out, let me know what you guys think :)


	3. Bodies

November 10th, 2009

Reid, Hotch and Prentiss arrived at the location of the search which was within a wooded area, crime scene investigators were already marking off and digging. From where they stood they could see four more marked off shallow graves between the scattered trees, it was deep enough in the woods that freshly dug holes wouldn't be noticed.

"They were buried." Hotch said to Prentiss who was walking up carefully with the heels she was beginning to regret having put on, she nodded once she was standing besides him.

"This guys all over the map Hotch. The only link is that they are all shot point blank." Prentiss sighed, "Whoever they are, they are taking countermeasures to the extreme." She spoke as she surveyed the scene before her, the few of them slowly coming to the same conclusion.

Hotch and Reid shared an uneasy look, they knew the statistics on this, Hotch looked over at her, "You know this is an indicator that we're dealing with someone in law enforcement." He said lowly. 

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah, Rossi and I came up with about the same." She said, "Not gonna make this any easier." She said as she adjusted her coat.

Reid sighed, "Not that it was easy to begin with..." he said, honestly out of all the crimes they have worked, this one has left them with the least amount of clues and the most amount of speculation.

After talking with Officer Townsend they went back to the office, with four more bodies that brings the total up to 14. Hotchner filled Morgan and JJ in when they arrived. Morgan, who had been sitting near the map of the bodies discovered placed four more pins in. He sighed and pulled out his phone to call Garcia.

"Palace of pleasure, how may I serve you?" Garcia purred into the phone, Morgan wanted to smile but the news he was about to give her made him do anything but. 

"Hey baby girl. We just got four more bodies, please tell me you've got anything on the already known victims?" He said. 

"Unfortunately my chocolate thunder I don't have much, other then all of them were skeevy and super should-have-been locked up. In an out of jail from young ages, charges dropped and more kept coming. I know like taking the law into your hands is bad but like, at least they aren't sweet little old ladies." She said with a tight wide smile, trying to make light cause she could hear the tension in his voice. 

Morgan sighed, "Regardless, we still gotta stop this guy." He said, "Keep digging and call me if you find anything okay sweetness?"

"I'm on it, I'll dig until I hopefully find something tangible, ciao!" She said and ended the call with a tap of her newest glitter pen. It wasn't always easy to find things between victims, let alone ones that crossed jurisdiction lines and states. That didn't mean she wasn't gonna work on it until she found something though, oh no, if anything it motivated her to dig deeper.

Morgan snapped this phone closed and walked back over, "Garcia says the only thing she could find right away is that they all had records." He said, looking over as officer Townsend walked into the building with papers in hand, he hoped those were results on the bodies. 

"We gotta get ahead of this, we should also talk with the other precincts to double check the other locations of the murders to make sure this body count isn't higher." Hotch said as Officer Townsend walked up to him and held out the papers, "We haven't identified any of them yet but dental records can take a bit." She said as she removed her hat.

Reid had been keeping to himself for most of what was going on, his thoughts working overtime to try and figure this out. His hands shoved under the desk so they didn't see him fidgeting, he was seriously frustrated by all this. 

After they analyzed the papers Officer Townsend had brought, they all sat and stood around the table and whiteboards. "So a single GSW usually points to efficiency and shows that its personal but a means to an end." Rossi said, looking at one of the victims, "But the fact that they transported the bodies, and even used different disposal methods shows that they are calculating and..." he paused, "Possibly law enforcement." 

Officer Townsend straightened up, "Your meaning to tell me that an officer of the law is doing this?" She asked, honestly the thought did not sit well with her, "How would I know... if it was possibly one of my men?" She asked. 

"The likelihood of that is low but we cant rule it out without a proper investigation." Hotch said, arms crossed as he stared down at the file. "But understanding this will help and hurt us in the long run, because until we know who they are, they probably will have access to the case files and will make it easier for them to be one step ahead." He said, the thought also not sitting well with him. 

"So how do we catch this guy." She said, her hands dropping to her sides in defeat. "You guys are the best of the best, and I don't know who to call if you can't find them." She said. 

"We are ma'am, and we wont rest until this unsub is caught and put away. We just need to gather more information to be able to get ahead of this person." Prentiss said.

"So more bodies." Officer Townsend said, crossing her arms and looking very turned off by the idea. "We have to wait until there are even more bodies." She said as she grew more irritated. 

Rossi sighed, "Unfortunately. Unless we get a hit off of any of the bodies we recovered we just have to keep trying to figure out how to get ahead of this guy." He said. 

Reid couldn't hold back anymore, he stood up and walked over to Hotch, "Can I talk to you…" he asked quietly so only Hotch would hear, he had to get his thoughts out before they made his head explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've been going through alot but I'm trying really hard to get back into the swing of things. We are only a couple more chapters away until we get to the first meeting! I'm so excited!


End file.
